Ron Paul Scrutinized For Anti-Gay, Anti-Israel, Racist Newsletters

Ron Paul is being scrutinized for anti-gay, anti-Israel, racist newsletters that were published two decades ago when Paul was not a member of Congress, but was the head of a consulting firm that bore his name, as did the newsletters. Although they were not published under his byline, the newsletters have his name at the top and often are written in there first person.

A 1992 passage from the Ron Paul Political Report about the Los Angeles riots read, “Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.” A passage in another newsletter asserted that people with AIDS should not be allowed to eat in restaurants because “AIDS can be transmitted by saliva”; in 1990 one of his publications criticized Ronald Reagan for having gone along with the creation of the federal holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which it called “Hate Whitey Day.”

The magazine article largely matched a similar report in The New Republic in 2008, and it was written by the same author, James Kirchick. The passages were plucked from a variety of newsletters that Mr. Paul’s consulting business published during his years out of Congress, all of them featuring his name: Ron Paul Political Report, Ron Paul’s Freedom Report, Ron Paul Survival Report and Ron Paul Investment Letter.

Mr. Paul did not respond to an interview request, but repudiated the writings in 2008. Likening himself to a major news publisher, he said he did not vet every article that was featured in his newsletters. “I absolutely, honestly do not know who wrote those things,” Mr. Paul said in an interview on CNN at the time, adding that he did not monitor the publications closely because he was busy with a medical practice and “speeches around the country.”

Mr. Paul, who is a physician, had said his political persuasion as a libertarian precluded him from harboring such biased views because “I don’t see people in collective groups.”

On Monday, his deputy campaign manager, Dimitri Kesari, reiterated that Mr. Paul “did not write, edit or authorize” the language.

“He totally disavows what was said and disagrees with it totally,” Mr. Kesari said. “The only responsibility he takes is for not paying closer attention.”

No conspiracy theory was too outlandish for Paul’s endorsement. One newsletter reported on the heretofore unknown phenomenon of “Needlin’,” in which “gangs of black girls between the ages of 12 and 14” roamed the streets of New York and injected white women with possibly HIV-infected syringes.

…

Paul gave credence to the theory, later shown to have been the product of a Soviet disinformation effort, that AIDS had been created in a U.S. government laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Three months before far-right extremists killed 168 Americans in Oklahoma City, Paul’s newsletter praised the “1,500 local militias now training to defend liberty” as “one of the most encouraging developments in America.” And he offered specific advice to antigovernment militia members, such as, “Keep the group size down,” “Keep quiet and you’re harder to find,” “Leave no clues,” “Avoid the phone as much as possible,” and “Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”

A webvsite titled ‘The Ron Paul News Letters” (from which the top image came), has a great deal more, including a photo of Rep. Paul with the leader of a white supremacist group, and many links and copies of the Ron Paul newsletters.

That’s the problem with anti-gay, anti-Israel, racist statements — that they always come back to haunt you. Of course, just not being a bigot is always a good idea…

You're quoting the Weekly Standard here. That's like going to Joseph Goebbels for propaganda advice and to actually quote them in any way brings 100% suspect to anything you're saying. Really? The Weekly Standard?

To insinuate Ron Paul is anti-Isreal is propaganda. His personal heroes are Jews. He's written about them in books. You know, books. Why are you not posting that up here?

Ron Paul’s actions speak louder than the words written 30 years ago. No racists gives free medical care to Black and Hispanic women for 40 years. To say so flies in the face of logic.

Scouring the web I can only find one bad thing about Ron Paul. He’s flipped (but not flopped) on one issue. The 2:20 mark of the video. (if the link is removed Google: Busted! Ron Paul racist rant caught on tape! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3EADdr-5AY&f…

Also, Ron Paul is not a racist when the head of the NAACP goes on television and says that Ron Paul is not a racist. You can Google that one yourself.

Finally, Ron Paul could be the biggest racist in the history of the events of all of earth and the universe and I’m still going to vote for him. Know why?

A vote for Ron Paul is a vote for Peace.

A vote for any other including Obama, is a vote for endless war, assassinations, life in detention without charge, crushing debt and enough deficit spending to enslave your grand children’s grand children.

Scott_RoseDecember 20, 2011 at 8:12 pm

Many sources are evaluating this story not just the Weekly Standard. Ta Nehisi Coates, for example, published a piece on The Atlantic's site "Ron Paul's Shaggy Defense." Additionally, you have said that you don't really care whether R.P. is a racist, so we know where you are coming from. It isn't clear, btw, that a teeny tiny government that dictates a woman's reproductive rights will lead to greater national prosperity.